Scutching-machine.



No. 67|,355. Patented Apr. 2, I901.

s. STANBRIDGE. SCU TCHING MACHINE.

(Application.flled July 5, 1900.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets Shee t'l.

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No. 671,355. Patented Apr. 2, |90L s. STANBBIDGE,

SGUTCHING MACHINE.

(Application filed July 5, 1900., (No Model.) 3 Shoets-$heet 2.

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No. 673,355. Hatanted Apr. 2, I90].

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(Application filed July 5, 1900. (No Model.) 3 Sheats-Sheet 3.

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" STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL STANBRIDGE, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

SCUTCHlNG-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 671,355, dated April2, 1901.

Application filed July 5, 1900. Serial No. 22,648. (No model.)

T0 at, whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL STANBRIDGE, engineer, a subject of the Queenof Great Britain, residing at London, England, (whose post-officeaddress is 118 Seaford road, South Tottenham, in the county ofMiddlesex,) have invented certain new and useful Improvements inScutching-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for eX- tracting or obtainingvegetable fibers from leaves or plants, and more especially to apparatusin which a rotary beater-wheel is employed to beat the leaves or plants,so as to remove the extraneous mattertherefrom and prepare the fibersfor industrial use. In apparatus of this kind as heretofore made theleaves or plants are beaten by the beaterwheel against ascutching-board, while the same are held at one end by suitable grippingdevices and traversed across the face of said board. When the treatmentof one end of the leaves or plants is complete, the latter are reversed,and the same operation is then performed on the other end of the leavesor plants.

The object of my presentinvention is toincrease the capacity of such amachine or apparatus, and this I do by providing an additionalscutching-board and mechanism for feeding the leaves or plants acrossthe board, the same being suitably constructed and arranged in referenceto the beater-wheel and the other scutching-board that leaves and plantscan be treated on both 'scutchingboards at the same time and fed theretoindependently. In my improved machine, therefore, there are twoscutching-boards in combination with a single beater-wheel so arrangedthat two sets of leaves or plants can be simultaneously treated by onebeaterwheel, whereby a great saving of time is effected and the outputof the machine is largely increased.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate my invention,Figure 1 is a front elevation of the machine. Fig. 2 is a side elevationthereof looking from the left of Fig. 1;, and Fig. 3 is a similar view,but with the feed-wheels removed.

Like letters of reference denote corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

A is the beater-wheel, and BB are scutchin g-boards. The beater-wheelrotates in bearings 0, carried by a strong frame 0, to which thescutching-board B is directly attached. The upper scutching-board B iscarried by standards E E, fixed on the frame.

The feed apparatus in the example shown consists of wheels D D,rotatable on spindles (1 cl, respectively, and driven in any suitablemanner from the shaft ctof the beater-wheel. In the drawings Ihave shownthe driving effected by a worm F on the shaft a, gearing with aworm-wheel G, fixed on a vertical shaft g, which through bevel-wheels gh h drives the shafts H H, which are respectively connected bychain-wheelsj j and chains J J with the spindles of the feed-wheels.This mechanism rotates the feed-wheels in opposite directions, which isadvantageous, seeing that in such case the attendant without moving hisposition can transfer the partially-decorticated leaves or plantsdelivered by the first feed-wheel to the second feed-wheel to be actedupon at the other end by the beaterwheel. The wheels, however, may berotated in the same direction. Each feed-wheel is furnished withsuitable grippers or carriers for seizing and retaining the leaves orplants while they are acted upon by the beaterwheel. In the exampleshown these grippers consist of fingers K, hinged at it on the peripheryof the feed-wheel. Each gripper or carrier is formed with a tailpiece k,which in the rotation of the feed-wheel is brought into contact with astationary tripping arm or bracket L, that operates to close the saidgripper just as the latter is passing through an opening m in the tableor support'M, upon which the leaves or plants are laid by hand. In thisway the gripper is caused to seize the leaves or plants and carry themaround with the feed-wheel into the path of the rapidlyrevolvingbeater-blades, Which thoroughly beat the leaves against thescutching-board and remove the extraneous matter. from the fibers. Afterthe tailpieces 7c leave the tripping-arm L the grippers are kept closedby a segmental guide or presserN, under which the grippers pass andwhich presses on rollers carried by the backs of the grippers. The saidguide or presserN is adjustable in guides O O by a screw P, working in afixed bracket P" and arranged to be turned by a hand-wheel P- for thepurpose of regulating the pressure on the leaves held by the grippers.When the grippers pass from under the guide or presser N, they are freeto open, and the attendant can thenretnove the leaves and transfer themto the second feed-wheel to he operated on at the other end. Theconstruction of each feed-wheel is the same.

The arrangement of the feed-wheels substantially at the opposite ends ofa diameter of the beater-wheeLtogether with the arrangement of thescutching-boards, as shown-viz., one extending downward from itsfeed-Wheel, while the other extends upward over the top of thebeater-wheel-constitutes an important feature of my invention.

I claim In a scutching-machine, a rotary beaterwheel mounted upon adrive-shaft, a fixed scutching-board arranged opposite a horizontaldiameter of said wheel, a fixed scntching Witnesses:

GEO. HARRISON, HENRY W. LYNDEN.

